A Boy and his Mouse
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: [AU] He was late and all that was left was the cat's breakfast.


**A/N:** Written for the Advent Calender 2015, day 22 – write an AU, and for the Diversity Writing Challenge, c60 – write an AU.

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 **A Boy and his Mouse**

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 _'Don't you have any animals left, Professor?'_

 _'Well… the cat did catch a few mice again. I think there might be one she hasn't eaten.'_

 _'I'll take it!'_

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So what if mice didn't make pets under normal circumstances. It wasn't impossible. And it wasn't like they were the only species of animal that chewed everything in sight. Dogs did that too, and his mother seemed relieved he hadn't brought a dog home. It wasn't his first preference either. He'd wanted a lizard.

But he'd slept in after staying up half the night in excitement, and all the animals were gone before he could get one.

Not even just the good ones. Everything. The lizard, the turtle (which was actually rather low on his list because turtles were so _slow_ ), the dog, the cat, the bird, the frog…

The Professor didn't even keep mice as pets. He kept them to feed the cat.

Luckily, the cat hadn't eaten them all for breakfast before he got there.

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The Professor had wanted the local kids to help him with a social experiment. The reward was they'd get a pet of their own – and it took a bit of convincing to get the parents to agree. Then it took a promise of first come, first serve to stop the arguments from breaking out: who'd get what animal, who'd be potentially left with nothing.

There shouldn't have been anyone with nothing, but his grandson had come to visit unexpectedly and so he'd wound up one short.

And Ash was the late one.

He really did feel bad about giving the boy a mouse, though. He would see how things went with them. His mare was pregnant again, and if he tamed a wild mouse, he might rather like a foal. And be good with it.

Because, of course, the Professor had ulterior motives as well. To see who had a knack with the animals.

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Delia complained of bites.

Not on her. 'I'm mother enough to keep it from biting me, I think,' she said, half scolding and half amused, 'but poor Ashy's having a rough time.'

'It was a bit of an accident,' the Professor confessed. 'I'll fix it, I promise. In the meantime…it's a bit of a test. The mare is going to foal in a few months, you know.'

'Ooh.' She grasped the implication. 'Ashy would love that. I'm sure he'll manage the mouse. He's being stubborn about it.'

'That sounds like a story.'

'Yep, he gave it a bath. Wearing rubber gloves and tying it with the washing line when it tried to make a run for it.'

The Professor chuckled. 'The leash won't be good long term, but if it stops the mouse from running away, it's probably a good idea temporarily.'

'They even went on walks,' Delia smiled. 'It was a little cute.'

'Just a little?'

'Well, Ashy was dragging the mouse with him.'

'Hmm… I see what you mean.'

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Ash tried not to drag the mouse. Really, he did, but it refused to move. 'You'll get fat!' he complained, trying to coax it instead. 'Come on. Am I really that bad?'

The mouse turned its face away.

'Geeze.' Ash sighed, and scattered a bit of cheese. Of course it ran to that. 'You're hopeless.'

And he was hopeless as well. No way he was going to convince the Professor he could raise a mouse when he plainly couldn't.

'No,' he scolded, when the mouse tried to climb his arm for more. 'You'll get fat – oww!' It bit him. Again.

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'Look.' Ash sighed. He'd opened all the doors and windows. The mouse was a cat's meal. The Professor might not mind too much if this backfired. 'I'm sorry I keep on tying you up. Or locking you up.' He undid the washing line and hung it up. 'If I'm really that bad, you –'

The mouse ran off without even giving him a chance to finish.

'You could have at least said bye!' he yelled angrily.

Then he sighed and slumped to the floor. Maybe mice just weren't meant to be pets. Even though some people seemed to manage to tame them.

He left some cheese out anyway. Maybe it was just hopeful thinking. Maybe the mouse just wanted to travel. He cut an apple for himself. Ate a few pieces, then decided to take a nap.

He found the mouse eating the last of his slices. Not the apples in the garden. _His_ slices.

'Hah!' he cried, so loud that the mouse fell off the bed. 'You do like me.' The mouse picked up the last slice with his teeth and dashed outside. 'Or me cutting apples for you – hey, those are mine!'

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The mouse bit his backpack strap as well. And the gloves he'd been using to wash him. And the snacks he brought up to his room. Never raided the fridge or pantry though. Probably knew mothers weren't to be messed with.

Ash wished the mouse had the same impression of him. It didn't.

But it still came back, which had to mean something…right?

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It meant the mouse found him funny. Daily source of entertainment, or something. He was gardening. Or battling with weeds, more like. The mouse just sat in a tree and laughed.

'You could help, you know,' Ash muttered. Those teeth probably _would_ be a help. Or maybe those tiny paws could dig.

The mouse simply chittered at him.

Until it was knocked off the branch by a bird.

The bird squawked, then pecked. 'Hey.' Ash threw a stone at it. 'Knock that off.'

The bird squawked at him, then flew away. The mouse hissed and dug into the grass, as though mad. And then it scrambled for cover in the weeds Ash had already pulled out.

The bird was back. With company. Black, angry crows with long beaks.

And they dove at the weed pile.

'Stop it!' He swung the little shovel. It didn't make for much of a weapon, but it got a bird on the beak. Which turned out to be bad, because it came right back with more pecks, and its friends as well. And they hurt. Far more than the mouse's biting. They made him bleed.

'Stop it!' he yelled. His mother didn't come running. She must still be at the shops. He flapped his hands. Kicked. They dodged or were hit and kept pecking, like he was some fruit. And they pecked at the pile as well.

Well, he couldn't do anything about the ones on him, but he could at least save that ungrateful mouse.

He stomped near the pile, using the shovel to ward them off. He managed it too, even though he got more pecks for his troubles. 'You're not – ' he grunted, 'getting _my_ mouse.'

The mouse peaked out from under the weed, then drew back at the spots of blood. Then darted out again and bit a pecking bird. It squawked angrily and changed targets again. Ash hit it with the shovel.

'Dear me, just what is – Ash!'

The appearance of an adult human frightened the birds off. Ash groaned. 'Oww, these _hurt_.'

At least it had won him the mouse's respect.

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'But why were those crows in my garden!' Delia exclaimed. 'This better not have been one of your experiments, Samuel. Ash was seriously hurt!'

'I assure you it wasn't, Delia,' said the Professor. 'I heard from Viridian there was an unexpected storm. Perhaps that's why. Viridian very rarely get storms, so there's no need for them to come further south. Though it is worrying, because most people in Pallet have gardens, and spent a lot of time outdoors. For crows to attack like that…'

'At least Ash and Pika are getting along better,' Delia sighed. 'If you want to call it a silver lining. It's going to take a while for those holes to stop being painful.'

The Professor winced at that, though he was cheered at the thought of the boy and the mouse getting along. So he'd overcome his little obstacle after all. 'Pika?' he asked. 'That's an odd name.'

'I think it was originally Peeka,' said Delia. 'Somehow wound up like this. Peeka for peeking out from all those weeds when the crows were attacking. Honestly, of all the things he notices…'

'Boys will be boys, right Delia?'


End file.
